Rail anchor



RAIL ANCHQR Filed sept. i3, 1930 INVENTORS:

nlmawmw Patented Feb. 16, 1932 lTED STATES EMAIUEL 'VVOODING OF OAKMONT, AND EDMND A. SKOWRON,

PATENT OFFICE OF PITTSBURGH,

PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNORS TO WOODTNG-S-VERONA TOOL WORKS, OF VERONA, FENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA .RAIL ANCHOR Application filed September 13, 1930. Serial No. 481,690.

This invention relates to rail anchors, and particularly to one-piece anchors made of spring steel plate, adapted to be twisted in application so as to have a constant torsional grip on the rail.

An object of the invention is to provide a one-piece rail anchor that may be punched at a single operation from spring steel plate, and therefore economically manufactured.

Other objects are to provide an anchor so formed and bent ont of its original plane that parts of it must be distorted to permit its application to a rail base, itbeing thereafter held in position thereon under considerable torsional strain due to the return pressure of the distorted parts of the anchor.

Another object is to provide an anchor having rail-engaging aws at each end, with the upright portions of the jaws oppositely bent ont of the planes of the anchor yoke or body, so that these jaws must be partially straightened or returned to the planes of the anchor body in applying it to a rail base, producing a torsional effect at each end, the two effects being opposite with reference to bearing on the rail base, so that the canting effects at the ends are oppositely applied.

A further object is to provide an anchor that may be readily hooked around the base of the rail, and then driven into seated position by movement across the rail hase, an offset being provided to lock and anchor in its position after it is driven home. y

Another obj'ect is to provide an anchor so formed that the grip on the rail will be increased by abutment of the anchor against a tie and subsequent movement of the rail relative to the tie.

Referring to the drawings, 1 shows a rail in cross section with an anchor .in dotted lines as gjneliininarily applied tb ereto, and in full lines the anchor is shown applied as far as possible without distortion; Fig. 2 shows the rail with the anchor driven home thereon; Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the anchor without a rail therein but positioned against a tie; Fig. l is a perspective view; Fig. 5 is an end view of the anchor as applied; and Fig. 6 is an end view of the anchor as shown in Fig. 3, not applied to a rail.

As is well known in this art railway` rails tend to creep forward with the travel of heavy trains thereover. To resist this tendency anchors are applied to the rails, these anchors being adapted to abut against the ties, and consequently to retard or prevent forward movement of the rails. This rail anchor art is well developed. Many different forms of such devices are in use. Onepiece spring` plate anchors adapted to be driven to position are not per se new. Applicants invention therefore resides in the shaping and bending of the plate to secure `irnproved and different eifects as compared to the prior art. p

The present anchor is preferably formed from flat bar or plate stock, of high grade spring steel, of suitable width and thickness, as shown in Fig. 4f, by shearing off proper lengths of such bars to form anchor blanks, punching the blanks with dies to cutaway the intermediate portion to form a connecting yoke between jaws formed at the saine time at the ends, and either simultaneously or in subsequent operations bending portions of the blank as and for the purposes below described.

After being formed the anchors are heat treated and quenched to secure the necessary hardness and resiliency.

In the drawings an ordinary railRis shown, having a head l, a web 2, and a base 3. At one end of the anchor there is formed an enlarged jaw J having on its inner upper face 5 a small offset or shoulder 6. The metal cut away to form the jaw forms an enlarged railreceiving recess 7 in the yoke Y just below the jaw. The upright portion 8 of the jaw is bent laterally to take the upperportion 9 of the jaw out of the plane of the lower portion 10, which is a continuation of the yoke or anchor body.

The intermediate portion forming yoke Y between the ends of the anchor is bent at l2 to bring the ends of the anchor into spaced away planes, comprising the lower end portions of the blank. See Fig. 3. y

At the other end of the anchor ashorter jaw is formed. For convenience of description it will be referred to as a hook7 Ihe tively, though upright portion 14 of this hook is bent laterally to bring its upper end l5 into a plane at an angle to the vertical lower portion 16. The inclination or bend of the portion 14 of the hook H is opposite to that of the jaw J.

The inner under face 17 of the hook is in clined upward and this inclination is. increased at its inner corner to form a more inclined face 18. The face of the inclined portion 17 of the hook is also-transversely beveled, to form an edge contact with the rail base upon which it seats, as shown more clearly in Fig. 2. The under face 4 ofthe jaw J inside shoulder 6 is likewise laterally beveled, but in opposite direction, so that it' also presents an edge contact to the top of vthe rail base. See Figs. 2V and 5.

The intermediate yoke portion of the anchor has a raised hump 19 adapted to seat on the under side of a rail base near the hook end of the anchor. This raised portion does Anot'evtend all the Way to the upright portion 14 of the hook, there being a deep recess 20 1n the yoke just beneath the hook, this construction giving sufficient length to permitthe upright portion 14v of the hook to have a wide bend, giving the necessary resiliency to the hook to permit widening its jaW in applying the anchor to the rail, resulting in a reslient torsional grip of the anchor on a rai i.

V As shown the jaw is bent latera-l-ly'toward the plane ofthe basevof the hcok,'and the hook is bent laterally toward the plane of the base of the jaw, said planes being spaced apartV by the intermediate lateral bend 12 in the yoke Y. The bends of the jawV and hook may be bent in just reverse direction, respecthey must be in-opposite directions to each other. But by bending` the anchor as shown a very powerful shackle grip results. For example, ywith an anchor positioned as in Fig. 3, the tendency of forward travel of the rail and abutment ofthe anchor against the tie will be to turn, the underside of the anchor back from the tie. rIhat gives a shackle grip between the edge ofbeveled portion 17 and the edge of hump 19 that is away from the tie. Since these are almost in the same plane when the anchor is on the rail, a very` powerfulV leverageV is exe erted, and the edges of the anchor will securely grip Vthe rail;

Thebend 12'`n the yoke, the bends in the j aw and hook, and the spacing apartof the planes -of the ends of the anchor afford spacing and resiliency permittingthe anchor to be easily applied, holding the railwith a strong torsional grip, but yet affording a resiliency that permits enough give under load/to breaking. f .Y Y Y Y 'Y Although the anchor is shownA with the hook end"` cont-acting the tie, it willI function iff turned end for end. Or if the rail reverses its avoid direction the anchor will function by abutment with ballast. In other words, it resists movement of the rail in `either direction, if an abutment is furnished. Or if put on by unskilled labor, no damage `will follow reversing its preferred positioning.

The anchor is applied to the rail by eX- tending the hook end beneath the rail to permit the jaw portion to engage one edge ofthe rail base, as shown in dotted' lines in Fig. 1. The hook end of the anchor is then rotated about-the jaw end until the anchor comes to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1. It can thengorno further forward across the rail, since the under face 5 of the jaw engages the upper face of the rail', and the upper face of the hump 19 of the anchor is in contact with the under side of the ra-il base.

With the anchor in the position just stated it is hit with a Spike maui, orother tool,-

sharply onl the hook end thereof. This causes the sharply inclined under face 18 ofthe hook to ride over the upper edge of the rail base, and then as the anchoris driven transversely across the rai-l, theI laterally bent upright portions 8 and 14 of the hook and jaw thereof will be sprun'gtowa-rds coincidence with the respective planes of the lower portions ofthe anchor, and in so doing the hook and jaw widen. enough to permit the anchor to be driven to the final engagedv position as shown in Fig. 2.

The shoulder 6' on the inner face 5` of the jaw is so positioned that as the inner-vertical face ofthe hook end of the anchor comes into contact withthe edge of the rail'y the shoulder 6 Will reach the opposite upper corner of the rail base, and the shoulder will then tend to engage the-vertical faceV of that edge of the rail. This lock i's not positive, however, andthe anchor'may be removed by striking the jaw end thereof with a spike maulf, dri-ving the jaw' portion ontoY the rail base, to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1f, and thus releasing the hook end thereof;

The anchor in moving from the position shown in fulli lines Vin Fig; 1 tothe position shown in Fig. 2 necessarily is distorted or sprung at both ends.. ThatV is to say the' upright portions ofthe hook and jaw ends of the anchor are partially straightened out and brought back towards vertical position, as shown in Fig. 5. Since the anchor is made of' spring steel, the result is to give an op positely effective torsionall distortion to the ends of the steel plate.y As a result the rail base will be firmlygrippedbythe jawsat each end of the anchor, the upper portion of the jaw bearing upon the upperside of the, rail base and: tendingv tocant the anchor-inr one direction, and the ujper portionof the hook bearingy upon the ot tending-to cant they anchor-in the opposite direction. The hump 19. bears beneath the rail so that a three-pointucontact. between er side off the rail and the anchor and rail base is thus eli'ected, with a constant spring torsional edge-biting grip between those points.

rlhe anchor is applied adjacent to a tie T. YWhen the rail moves over the tie the lower portion of the anchor is brought into contact therewith, and 'further movement of the rail will necessarily tend to slide the anchor on the rail, and incidentally to cant it from its normally substantially vertical position thereon. The leverage eflect produced by abatement of the lower portion of the anchor on the tie and the consequent tendency to cant the anchor results in pressing the edges of the hump 19 and the edges of the overlapping hook and jaw portions of the anchor into the rail, and to cause these portions to have a bite or shackle grip thereon. It has been found in practice that this grip is quite secure, and that an anchor of this form has very great holding power in either direction.

The simplicity ot' an anchor of this type, th economy in manufacture due to the fact that it may be punched from bar stock at one operation, and the 'fact that the anchor will resist movement of the rail in either direction, i. e. no matter which side of it is opposed by the tie or ballast, makes it a very desirable article for its intended purpose.

We claim:

l. A rail anchor comprising a spring steel plate member having a jaw at one end and a hook at the other, an intermediate yoke portion having a hump adapted to Contact with the bottom of a. rail, said jaw and hook portions being bent laterally and oppositely and adapted to exert a constant biting grip on the rail due to distortion of the upright portions of the hook and jaw on application ot' the anchor to the rail.

2. A rail anchor comprising a spring steel plate member having a jaw at one end and a hook at the other, an intermediate yoke portion having a hump adapted to Contact with il the bottomot a. rail, said jaw and hook portions being bent laterally and oppositely and adapted to exert a constant biting grip on the rail due to distortion of the upright portions ot the hook and jaw on application of the anchor to the rail, and the yoke portion being bent intermediately to bring the ends of the anchor into spaced apart planes.

3. A rail anchor comprising a spring steel member having` a jaw at one end and a hook at the other end, an intermediate yoke por` tion having a hump thereon adapted to engage the under side of the rail, said jaw and hook portions oil the anchor being bent over laterally on opposite sides ofthe anchor so as to require partial straightening of said bends to permit driving ot the anchor to position on a rail.

4. A rail anchor comprising a spring steel member having a jaw at one end and a hook at the other end, an intermediate yoke por- `bends to permit driving of the anchor to position on a rail, and the yoke portion being bent intermediately to bring its ends into spaced apart substantially parallel planes.

'5. A rail anchor comprising a vertically ar- 'A ranged flat spring' steel bar forming a jaw at one end and a hook at the other end permanently bent out of the planesof the lower portions of the anchor so as to require straighteningoii said jaw and hook to permit applyinguthe anchor to a rail, the portions of the yoke just beneath the jaw and hook being recessed to provide long upright portions for said jaw and hook.

arrangedflat spring steel: bar forming a jaw at one end and a hook at the other end permanently bent out of the planes of the lower portions of `the anchor so as to require plying the anchor to a rail, the portions of the yoke just beneath the jaw and hook being recessed toV provide long `upright portions for said jaw and hook, and means to lock the anchor in applied; position on the rail.

, 7. A rail anchor of spring steel plate adapted to be driven transversely of a rail to its locked position thereon, comprising a yoke member, an intermediate portion on said yoke raised to bear against the bottom surface of a rail base, a jaw at one end of the yoke and a hook at` the other end with recesses in the yoke beneath the jaw and hook, the upright portions ot' said jaw and hook being bent laterally with relation to the anchor body and adapted to grip resiliently the top surface of the rail base Whenthe anchor is driven thereon, `whereby to hold the anchor under constant torsional strain in contact with the bottom of the rail and the tops of each of the flanges thereof. i

8. A rail anchor made from spring steel plate comprising `a yoke with a relatively long jaw at one end, a hook at the other end having an` upper inclined face adapted to be forced into gripping engagement with the rail base by driving the anchor transversely thereon, the portion of the yoke between said ing from a plate of spring steel, saidplate.

comprising a jaw at one end, a hook at the 6. A rail anchor 4con'iprising a verticallystraightening of said jaw and hook in apjaw and hook having deep recesses immedi`120 other, and an intermediate v"yoke, the yoke being bent to bring the two ends of the anchor into spaced apart planes, the upright portions of the j aw andhook' being bent laterally out i 5 of the planes of the lower portion, a clearance recess inthe yoke beneath the `jaw and a deep Vcut in the yoke beneath the hook, the anchor being adapted to be applied by .driving it transversely of the rail from the hook end. lO. A kone-piece spring steel plate anchor adapted to be applied to a railby transverse driving thereon, comprising a yoke having a portion adapted to contact with the bottom of the rail, an end jaw having a wide clearance recess therebeneath adaptedto engage one side of the rail base flange, a hook at the other end of the anchor having a vertical inner facefor abutting the edge of the rail, a deep recess in the yoke bounded on one side by said face of the hook, the said yoke having a bend therein bringing the end portions of the anchor into spaced apart planes, the upright portions of the hook and jaw being bent laterally and oppositely with respect to the original planes of the plate, whereby when the anchor is driven to position the said hook and jaw are partially straightened out to permit the anchor to engage the rail base under torsional spring pressure applied Ain opposite directions at its two ends. Y i

11. A one-piece spring steel plate rail anchor having a jaw at one end and a hook at the other whereby to engage the top of each side 1 of a rail base, an intermediate yoke adapted to engage the rail base and bent to bring the ends of the anchor into substantially parallel spaced-apart planes, the hook and j aw portions of the anchor being bent to provide meansfor maintaining the anchor on a 40 rail under constant torsional gripping action.

12. Acne-piece spring steel plate rail anchor comprising a jaw at one end and a hook at the other for engaging opposite upper sides of a rail base, an intermediate yoke hav- 45 ing a hump thereon for engaging the underside of the rail, the yoke being bent laterally at a median point to bring the ends into spaced-apart planes, the jaw and hook each being bent laterally toward the plane of the other, respectively.A

In testimony whereof, we hereunto sign our names. Y Y

EMANU EL WO ODINGS. EDMUND SKOWRON. 

